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John Legend Backing Off-Broadway Play On The Life Of Dick Gregory

As fans await the release of an upcoming documentary on the life of Dick Gregory; it has now been revealed that Gregory’s life will be captured on stage in a play produced by John Legend. Actor Joe Morton will play Dick Gregory in the expected May feature.

Singer John Legend, who’s turning up the heat as a backer of socially relevant material across various media, announced today that Scandal star and Tony Award nominee Joe Morton will play comedian and civil rights activist Dick Gregory in Turn Me Loose, opening off-Broadway in May. The comedic drama by Gretchen Law begins previews May 3 and opens May 19 at the Westside Theatre on West 43rd Street. Legend is co-producing with Mike Jackson, in association with Get Lifted Film Company. “It’s a beautiful piece of work,” Morton said, “The conflict, basically, is watching this man who broke the color line on television in terms of being a comedian morph into becoming the activist he eventually became.”